Up to 1.9 million people in US file for jobless claims

WASHINGTON, June 4 (KUNA) -- Up to 1.9 million people in the US filed for jobless benefits last week, official data showed Thursday, with the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits reaching about 21.5 million since mid March with the spread of the coronavirus.
The Department of Labor indicated that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.8 percent for the week ending May 23, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate.
It added that the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 23 was 21,487,000, an increase of 649,000 from the previous week's revised level.
The unemployment rate for May, which is expected to come out on Friday, is expected to be around 20 percent, a rate not seen since the Great Depression. (end) si.mb